Ms. STATON: I was so messed up when I first gave Christ my life.

NPR: The Trials and Triumphs of Candi Staton

But the thing that guarantees that Salt Lake City will continue to grow is precisely what built it in the first place: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

ECONOMIST: Lexington: Salt Lake City’s new image | The

Mel Gibson's controversial new film, "The Passion of Christ, " which at first had a hard time finding a distributor, will be independently released on about 2, 000 screens in the United States next month, a Gibson spokesman said on Wednesday.

CNN: Passion

In his first audience at the Vatican, he said Jesus Christ and not the Pope was the centre of the Church, which he stressed was "spiritual not political" in nature.

BBC: Pope Francis wants 'poor Church for the poor'

The United Church of Christ is believed to have ordained the first gay minister in the US 33 years ago, and for many of those gathered for the general synod in Atlanta, Georgia, the vote was, if anything, overdue.

NPR: Church Endorses Same-Sex Marriage

Ashoka, who ruled the Mauryan empire, India's first, at its apogee in the third century before Christ, was a convert to Buddhism.

ECONOMIST: Millennium issue: Muslims and Hindus

In 1978, the Turin shroud, once venerated as the burial cloth of Christ, went on public display for the first time in 45 years.

CNN: Tuesday,

Two large stage shows - Peter Pan and Jesus Christ Superstar - and music legends Fleetwood Mac are also planned for the first month.

BBC: Hydro venue 'will open on time'

To the faithful, St Peter - the disciple and first pope - started the official church in Rome at the conclusion of his journey after Christ's Ascension.

BBC: Easter in Rome